Green Ties
by Quinnzey
Summary: Edward Nashton is breaking out of his cocoon and showing the world who he really is - The Riddler. (Be a darling and reveiw)
1. Prologue

**A/N: Heyyah guys. I was browsing the site and noticed there's not that much Riddler story's on here, so here's mine. I wanted to do my take on how the Riddler became, so yeah. ~ Quinnzey**

**I do not own Batman or any of its characters and settings. The plot is kinda mine I think. Anyway as some would say, on with the show! **

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Prologue

Edward Nashton was a polite boy who smiled at old ladies on the bus and helped strangers in the street. Most who knew him would say "Edward is a charming young boy, well cleansed, polite, helpful always has a smile on his face and his intelligence for his age is astounding" It was true, everybody loved him. Well almost everyone, the children in his class didn't, his own father didn't, yet Edward still was all of these things to strangers and his teachers. He tried to make friends which normally ended up with him bleeding from somewhere. It didn't bother him, not too much. He didn't really need friends he was just fine on his own what bothered him most was his bastard of a father. He hated him with every fibre in his body and nothing was ever going to change that but one day his father was going to pay for everything he did.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Chapter 1 is here. Sorry for bad grammer. Enjoy ~ Quinnzey**

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Chapter 1 – Beginnings

Edward raised his sleep filled head and glanced at the clock, 6:00 am. Edward liked getting up early and he had trained his body to do so without the aid of an alarm clock which would just wake his father and rain hell on him. He pulled his school uniform on but he put his own green tie on. He loved the colour; if his father had let him he would have painted his room green. Edward silently made breakfast and got everything prepared for school. Everything had to be perfect. At 7, Edward left the house glad he wouldn't be able to see his father until 5 or 6.

He arrived at school early and hoped that the teachers would let him in, so he wouldn't have to deal with Hamish however the teachers refused and told him it was against the rules to let a student in before the first bell rang. He cursed the so called rules under his breath. He began walking away from the building when he saw Hamish. "Shit." No it was fine, Edward hadn't been spotted. Hamish walked right past him without even a glance but he was walking towards Fred and Kyle, safety in numbers. None of them, acknowledged his presence when they were on their own but together they did a nifty job. Edward sat on a bench next to some kid that was playing a game on his phone, he had never been good with people, no friends, no practice so he didn't bother to talk to the kid so that 'The Numskulls' wouldn't notice him. 'The Numbskulls' is what Edward nicknamed them which they heard when he had been muttering to himself. They thought it was a cool, awesome name so that's what they called their little gang, Edward nearly choked on laughter at the time which ended up with him having a black eye. He gulped when he saw 3 large shadows on the ground; he looked up into the leering face of Hamish, the leader of the pack. "Moring, Eddie. Isn't it just beautiful?" he said. Edward didn't reply he just looked down at his feet. Hamish grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled him up, "I asked you a question" he snarled.

"I guess so" Edward whispered

"Heh. What are you wearing?" Kyle taunted pointing to Edwards green tie.

"Awe, is Eddie trying to be all smart or somete'" Hamish teased. "Well you aint, your just a little freak of a moron"

"Yeah, a big fat dumbass" Fred joined in.

"Don't try to be something you're not, Eddie. You're just a worthless scab on the side of the world that everyone would gladly get rid of" Hamish whispered before dropping him on his ass on the concrete. They all laughed and high fived as the bell went. "Oh and one more thing" Hamish smirked and kicked Edward in the stomach making him double over in pain. They followed the rest of the school into the building.

Edward lay on the now empty yard, clutching his stomach. "_What did I even do wrong_" he thought. He grabbed his tie and ripped off. Slowly standing up he looked down at the tie in disgust like everything that went wrong in his life, was the tie's fault. He groaned and went to class, pretending everything was just fine.

"Edward why are you late?" Miss Case asked as she finished taking the register.

Hamish sent him a death glare which Edward understood "Missed the bus" he muttered.

"Very well, sit in your seat" she said, filling his mark in.

Hamish was always getting him to lie, lie, and lie. Edward swore to himself that when he left school, he wouldn't utter a single lie. Cross with himself for lying at Hamish's will once again, he began writing of all the terrible things that he could do to Hamish in a scrap of paper torn from his exercise book. He felt a something hit him in the back of his head, when he went to reach up and take it out; he was greeted with soggy paper sticking to his fingers. He quickly wiped it on the desk. _"Great somebody else's spit was on my hands" _he thought sickened. Another day to be picked on and tormented, Edward never understood why the other kids despised him so much.

Slinging his satchel over his shoulder, Edward began his journey home, purposely taking a longer route to try and put as much time between him and arriving at home. He walked slowly and made sure to walk down as many allies as he could, living in The Narrows all of his life he knew his way around. After walking around for about an hour or so, he knew he was going to have to face his father sooner or later so he made his way home.

Edward opened the door slowly and peered inside, the T.V was on a sports channel or something and he could make out his father's shape sitting on the sofa with beer bottles sprawled near his feet. If he could get to his room, he might just avoid his father's drunken stupidity. Edward carefully moved across the room staying out of his father's view to reach is small bedroom. He had just reached the door when his father spoke out "What time do you call this?" he demanded.

"It's only 5 o'clock" Edward said carefully.

"I'm sure your stupid school finishes at 3, so where were you?" he snarled.

"I-I had an after school club" he stuttered.

"What club would want an idiot nobody like you. Don't lie to me"

"I'm not lying, dad. I'm not!" he said, voice rasing.

As soon as he said that, his father was off the sofa and in his face, "Don't raise your voice to me" he snarled, breath reeking of alcohol.

"I'm sorry" Edward whispered.

"You're so pathetic, you know that. The reason your mum left was because she didn't want a sorry excuse for a son. It's your fault she got killed in that car crash, all yours"

"It's not my fault!" Edward screamed.

His father hit him across the jaw, sending him tumbling to the floor. "You're so weak. So pathetic" he said, kicking him in the face. "Stupid little fucking moron!" he shouted kicking him in the stomach hard enough to make Edward cough up blood. He grabbed him by the hair and dragged him up to eye level "I wish you was dead instead of your mum" he whispered then dropped him to the fall. Edward lay whimpering while his father went back to the couch and continued watching baseball. Meanwhile Edward managed to pull himself into his tiny room where he stumbled onto his bed and blacked out from the pain.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Nymphadora

A week past and nothing changed, Edward was bullied at school, he was bullied at home, and nobody noticed, even when he came into school after his father's latest beating with a huge purple bruise on his cheek nobody said anything. Edward had stayed out of his father's way as much as possible, which is rather hard when you live in a tiny two bedroom apartment. After the weekend the swelling had gone down though and now it was a sickly greenish yellow colour which was one of the very few good things in Edwards's life.

On a drizzly Monday when Edward had got to the yard early again to be told that he wasn't allowed in, he had noticed a person on which he had never seen before. He would have surely known if he had, as she had bubble gum pink hair flowing to her waist. He sat staring at her for 10 minutes before his thoughts were interrupted when a muscly arm went around his shoulders.

"Hey Eddie, where's your tie?" Hamish laughed.

Edward rolled his eyes, praying that they would leave him alone.

"Yeah, Eddie It was really smart and all" Fred scoffed before all three of them burst into a fit of manly laughter.

The bell rang, "Guys, can you please let me get to class. Miss Case said if I'm late once more I'll get a detention with Mr Gunter" as soon as the words left his mouth, he mentally slapped himself. He saw them all exchange a glance and smirking between them.

"That would be a real shame if you were late" Kyle taunted, before all three of them pounced on him, dragging him into the mud and kicking his face. "Let's go" Fred said and they all sped off, once again leaving Edward on an empty yard.

When Edward had finished cleaning himself up, he was 20 minutes late on arriving. Miss Case shook her head and wrote out a detention slip for him, when Edward turned to go to his seat; the pink haired girl was sitting in it. "Urm Miss Case, there's someone sitting in my seat" he said awkwardly. Miss Case looked up from her laptop and peered at the girl "Oh yes. You can sit here" she said mentioning to the beat up desk at the front next to hers, made for the naughtiest kids in the class. Edward cursed the pink haired girl under his breath as he unwillingly made his way over to his new place.

At break, much to his surprise the pink haired girl joined him on the bench. "I'm sorry for taking your seat" she said. Edward was stunned that someone was talking to him, nicely. "The teacher just told me to sit there, I didn't know anybody was sitting there" she went on, Edward didn't say a word. "Hey, are you listening, if you're not that's mighty rude" she scolded.

"I'm listing" Edward muttered.

"Oh, Goodie so what's your name?" she asked.

"Edward. What's yours?" he said.

"Oh, my name is silly. It doesn't matter. So why are you all alone?"

"I'm not answering your questions until you answer mine" he said stubbornly.

"Fine, promise not to laugh?" she asked

This caught his attention was her name that bad? "I promise" he said, very interested in what her name was.

"Okay its Nymphadora" she said, looking down.

"But that's a beautiful name" he replied

"Thanks" she mumbled, blushing red "So why are you alone?" she asked her smile returning.

"Oh, I don't have many friends. I'm not a 'people person' basically all the kids hate me"

"That's so sad, everybody hated me at my old school, and they use to pick on me because of my name and other things" she mumbled, trying to hide her embarrassment. Edward looked at the girl who sat next to him, a pretty face, pretty name and amazing bubble gum pink hair, he had no idea why kids would hate her but then again why did kids hate him? He never would figure that out, like a riddle. Nymphadora was just like him. "People like us, have got to stick together" he said.

"I couldn't agree more" she said, taking his hand in hers turning him a scarlet red.

When Edward came into school with a cut near his eye, Nymphadora confronted him about it. She pulled him around the side of school before it had begun. "Who did that?" she demanded.

"Did what?"

"Don't play dumb with me; you know perfectly well what I'm talking about. Who did it?"

"I did, I fell and there was glass on the floor and I cut it"

"Ed, when you lie you go very pale and right now you've gone that lying shade. So are you going to tell me the truth?"

Edward sighed deeply, "I don't want to talk about it"

Her expression softened "You sure?"

"Yeah" he said looking at his feet.

"Fine" she said leading him back around to the front of the building, where more people had turned up.

After school, Nimmie suggested that Edward should come round her house, as they were best friends now so Edward accepted. Nimmie also lived in The Narrows but in the complete opposite direction of Edwards's house, they had just moved here and on low budgets a shabby apartment in The Narrows was all they could afford. "Wait here" Nimmie said before she unlocked the door and looked inside, after a few moments she mentioned Edward to come inside "It's alright, my old man isn't home" she assured Edward.

The apartment was just as worn down on the inside as it was on the outside and the smell of smoke hung in the air, sticking to the basic furniture which considered of a scratched armchair in one corner, a small stool and an old T.V, the kitchen was tiny and was just as run down as everything else. "I know it's not much, do you wanna come to my room?" she said, looking at her feet. Edward nodded and she opened one of the three doors leading off of the living room.

Nimmie's room was completely different to the apartment, it was painted purple but the paint was covered up by posters, pictures and dream catchers. There was fairy lights strung across the only shelf which was directly above her large bed, which had a collection of stuffed animals sat upon it, the only other furniture was white drawers' next to her bed but no other furniture would fit in the small room. Edward unsure what to do, sat down on the soft bed next to her and gazed around the room at the posters and drawings. His eyes landed on a framed picture of a young Nymphadora with light blonde hair, holding a fluffy grey cat with a white patch over one of its eyes, hanging on the picture frame was a black collar with a name tag that he couldn't quite read. Nimmie saw what he was looking at and explained "That's Perri, she was my only friend. I loved her so much and I was constantly worried something bad would happen to her. She was a right pain in the ass when she wanted to be but she loved me just as much as I loved her, she was the perfect kitty"

"What happened to her?" he asked.

Tears came to her eyes, "My dad killed her. He knew it would kill me and it did, gave me her collar wrapped in a box on my birthday a few days after she went missing" Tears were running down her face now, Edward didn't want to see her cry but he didn't know what to do, so he hugged her. She looked into his eyes, tears still flowing down her cheeks and she kissed him, Edward was surprised this was his first kiss sad really since he was 17 but none the less, it filled him with such wonderful feelings. The kiss got passionate and before he knew it he was slowly taking her top off when he broke away he saw the scars. Dumbfounded he stared at them then at her, she pulled her top on, covering her arms again. "Edward" she began but he stood up and began making his way out of her house, he didn't know what to think so he stood there silently in the rain.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Please don't take offence, I have nothing against gays. I agree with gay marriage and all that but Edward's dad doesn't have the same ideas. I really hope you don't take any offence. I hope you like this chapter, sorry for offence. Love ya guys ~ Quinnzey**

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Chapter 3 – The challenge

Edward slammed the door, he was angry yet he didn't know why, he wasn't angry at Nimmie, no he was angry at the people who had made her do it. "You little piece of shit don't slam the god damn door!" his father yelled from his room. Edward opened it, smirking and slammed it with enough force to sent a slither of a crack along the edge. "What the fuck did I just say?! Are you deaf or just really fucking dumb?!" he yelled.

"Neither!" he yelled back "You're the fucking moron! You don't even have a job! Ha! I'm much smarter than you, in every way! Mum didn't leave because of me, she left because you're so mentally retarded!" he smiled to himself, satisfied his anger had been unleashed. Silence, as time slowly passed, it occurred to him how much damage his dad could possibly do to him. He gulped waiting for his dad to run at him and beat him senseless. "Dad, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry" he called out. Without warning, his dad came at him, knife in hand and pinned him up against the wall.

"Sorry? I knew you wouldn't mean it, your weak, just a little fucking idiot that won't get anywhere in life" his father spat in his face.

"I'm not an idiot" Edward whispered, eyeing the knife in hand. "I'm smarter than you'll ever be"

"No you're a pathetic idiot, who won't take up sports because he's famine"

"I'm not gay, if that's what you're suggesting" he said, remembering his kiss with Nimmie.

"I never said that! That must mean you are! Awe little Eddie isn't just a stupid moron; he likes it up his ass too! No wonder you always gotta make sure you're dressed up nice and hair is perfect. No son of mine is gonna be gay, you may live under this roof but you're not my son" he held the knife behind his back, losing intrusted of doing as much damage as he wanted now he believed Edward was gay. He stepped away from him, smiling sickly. He went back into his room while Edward scurried into his, rubbing at the spots where his vile father had touched him. He paced his room into the late of the night, coming up with genius ideas how to extract revenge on his father.

"Edward, just let me explain" Nimmie said, trying to grab his sleeve. He pulled it away before she could grasp it. He ignored her and carried on walking, a dark shadow covering his face. The boys around leered and shouted things like "Oooh, Eddie and his girlfriend had a fight" or "Poor Eddie, lost his girlfriend now" followed by "He's not good at anything" Edward of course had been used to so many petty things the immature kids threw at him, he took no notice but Nimmie did and it was hurting her, even if they weren't together they had almost been, if he hadn't of seen the scars. Nimmie was crying a lot more at school, but Edward took no notice, he was losing himself in the maze of his mind, loosing concentration and letting his grades slip so now even the teachers were calling him stupid. He had had enough of that word, yet it wove around in his mind filling him with a burning desire to prove himself of just how smart he was, smarter than anybody at his school, including the so called teachers.

Edward was lost in another of his recent daydreams, where he had created a puzzle for his father to solve, in order to save his own life and Edward was having great enjoyment watching his mind dad struggling for his life in his mind death trap when his teacher tapped on his wooden desk with her metal ruler, pulling him out of his trance. He looked up at her and she pointed to his blank paper with the ruler, Edward was about to go back into his beautiful world of games when the intercom buzzed into life, which it didn't do very often. _"Students, it's time of the challenge of Gotham high! It will be held in the assembly hall next Wednesday!" _Edward sighed, nothing interesting. _"It will be a challenge of intellect one no student has managed to overcome! Only the smartest can beat it, so why not give it a try! Next Wednesday in the assembly hall!"_ The intercom buzzed and crackled as it ended. Edwards brain began working on overdrive, if he could beat this so called challenge, that no student had ever beat, he could prove to the whole school how smart he was. The whole idea gave him shivers of excitement. "_What challenge could be so clever that nobody has ever beaten it_?" Edward thought. An idea came to him, leaving a smirk on his face for the rest of the lesson.

After school, Edward sat in the headmaster's swivel chair, comfy and large. He began searching the drawers and on the desk, finally in the last drawer he found a black cube with bits of green in places, he examined it more closely, the panels moved and it looked like the green pieces fitted together to make four question marks on each of the four sides. So this was the great challenge, it looked easy. How had nobody beat it? He began sliding the panels around, slowly, taking his time. _"This is going to take forever and most of the school is going to try, how long is he making this challenge? I don't have a lot of time. Time. Of course, I bet you have to complete the cube in a time limit."_ He thought to himself, smirking. He was going to win. He was. He carried on, sliding the panels into place when he heard voice outside, he shut the door and dived under the desk. The door opened and heard footsteps approaching the desk. "I can't even do it in an hour, I hardly think anyone can do it in 1 minute" the headmaster said, chuckling. Some papers shuffled around then another voice floated through the door "Mr Hutshon, can you check this over for me" The footsteps retreated and Edward let out of sigh of air, up until now he hadn't even noticed that he had been holding his breath. He scrambled up the quarter completed cube, shoved it back in the drawer. He brushed himself off and walked over to the window, where he put a paperclip between the wall and window frame, keeping it open while looking closed, he then hurried out of the room satisfied with his work.

Over the next week, Edward broke into Me Hutshon's office with the aid of his paperclip and worked on the question mark cube, getting faster and faster his skinny fingers sliding the panels into place with ease. He wished he could have told Nimmie about it, but she had moved on and had even made a new friend which made Edward greener than a lettuce but he never showed it. On the Tuesday night, he had finished the cube, in 45 seconds which satisfied him immensely, he was ready and the school would see just how smart he was. He smiled and in that moment anybody who saw him, might say he looked insane.

Wednesday came around and the large hall was full of the chattering of almost the whole school, there was a long line waiting to get a chance at beating it, Edward had been shoved, pulled and pushed until he was at the back of the long line of excited children. He stood there, alone with a dark look covering his face, looking like was thinking deeply about some important, which he was. The line shuffled along at a painfully slow pace but Edward didn't mind. He was nearing the front and he began to take notice of his surroundings, the teacher pressing the stop clock looked bored and tired. "Next" he said as a girl got up and left sadly. Edward sat down and looked at the familiar cube. "1 minute to complete the cube" he said, almost in monotone "your time starts now" he pressed the red button on the stop clock and the seconds started counting down as Edwards nimble fingers slid the panels in place. "Done" Edward said excitedly.

"What?" he said.

"Done" Edward repeated.

The teacher pressed the button, "30 seconds, new record" the teacher was still in shock. Edward passed him the cube, smirk still on his face. The teacher turned in over and over, puzzled. Edward stood up and the students in the hall erupted into applause, Edward had never felt more on top of the world.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Warning, this chapter is sad. So sorry Eddie. ~ Quinnzey.**

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Chapter 4- Riddles, Riddles everywhere

"Hey Riddler boy" Hamish said, slamming his back into the edge of the desk "Go on tell us a riddle, entertain us" Edward sighed, the prize of the challenge was the question mark cube and a riddle book, now Hamish kept hassling him for riddles, so far Edward hadn't told them any but he had enough. "Thought not" he jeered they moved away from him.

"Okay, you want a riddle, I guess I should give you an pretty easy one as you're not the brightest bulb in the box" Edward said, smirking, and shocked that he had spoken to Hamish, anyone even, like that. Hamish stopped and faced Edward.

"What did you say?" he demanded, clutching his fists Edward sensed the danger, he looked behind him on the teacher's desk and his eyes lit up, followed by an evil smile.

"What has an eye but cannot see?" he said, smile still upon his face.

"What?" Hamish said "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You said, you wanted a riddle, there's your riddle. Are you going to answer it? Or shall I?" he smirked.

"No but I'm going to wipe that little smirk off of your face" he snarled and he raised his fist.

"A needle" he snarled and just as Hamish was about to punch him in the face, he had ducked down and grabbed the needle, and stabbed him in the eye. Hamish screamed and grabbed at his face, "The answer could also be you" he laughed. Hamish pulled the needle out and lay whimpering, clutching is eye now that blood was flowing into his palm.

"What the-?" Miss Case exclaimed, arriving in the classroom, she looked at Hamish then at Edward standing, smiling like a mad man. "Edward!" she shouted "Headmasters office now!" Edwards smile dropped, he had never been in trouble at school before. He dragged his feet as the students filled into the classroom, huddling around Hamish. As usual nobody noticed Edward leaving glumly and Edward didn't notice that a certain bubble gum pink headed girl hadn't turned up for school for a second time.

"Edward, Edward, Edward" the headmaster shook his head. "You're a perfect student; I just don't understand why you would do something like this. Miss Case has also informed me that your grades have been slipping. What's wrong with you Edward?" Edward stared at his shoelaces; he had recently learnt that the tips were called aglets. "You do realize were going to have to suspend you from school for at least a week, this is a serious matter. Mr Gales could go blind"

Edward nearly choked on tears, his dad was sure to kill him now and not lightly either, slow and painfully. He was glad that Hamish would go blind, maybe kids would pick on him and he would never be able to play soccer again. These thoughts made him smile but getting suspended not so much.

"Is everything all right at home?" the headmaster asked.

_"Yeah, peachy keen, my either beats me or his off his face. Thanks for asking now. Now that it's too late, now that if I leave this building and go home after you've rang him, I'm pretty sure I'm walking straight into my own grave. Thanks for your concern before though"_ he thought, bitterly but instead he simply nodded.

"I just don't know Edward. Well you can go home now, we can talk more when you get back next week ok?" he said.

"That's fine" Edward muttered because it was far from fine. Edward stood up and left the room, the rain pounded on the windows but Edward was not going home, not yet. If his dad was going to end up killing him, he had to say goodbye to his only friend that he had had. When he got to the school gates, he turned right instead of left towards Nymphadora's house.

The rain had got heavier and was making his dark locks stick to his forehead; he blinked away the raindrops that had managed to get into his eyes. He climbed the steel stairs gripping the handrail as the steps were alarmingly slippery, finally he reached the top and knocked on Nimmie's paint peeling door. He heard grunting then a shuffle of footsteps. The door opened to reveal a small, ugly man in his undergarments. "What do you want?" he grunted.

"Is Nymphadora there?" he stammered.

"No. Nobody called that lives here" he said before shutting the door on Edwards's confused face. Edward stepped back and descended down the steps, he was sure this was her house. He looked at the door and steps, yes definitely the right house. Edward walked down the street and then slipped into an alleyway filled with two large dumpsters. He picked up some small rocks and avoiding touching the contaminated bins, he threw them up at her window. 5 stones later, a pale face appeared at the window, Nimmie didn't look so good, she looked sick. Edward smiled and waved, Nimmie let the curtain fall back into place and disappeared from view, Edward sighed then she opened the window.

"Edward what are you doing here?" she whispered "Go home, if he sees you, he'll kill me"

"Who? That fat ugly man?" he whispered back.

She suppressed a giggle "Edward, I'm glad you forgave me but it's too late for me" she whispered.

"Too late? What are you talking about?" he said, suddenly alarmed.

"Sh, please no questions. Were both from broken homes, don't deny it Edward. I've heard the shouts that your dad has yelled at you; it's the same for me. Maybe worst but it's not a competition. When you wouldn't forgive me and wouldn't talk to me, it broke me Edward you were the only good in my life, a shining beacon of hope through the darkness, but enough of that. I heard you won that "unbeatable" challenge, what you win?"

Edward stared at her, so many questions ran through his mind, but he didn't utter a single one. "A riddle book"

"That's great; can you tell me some riddles?"

Edward smiled, "If you can handle them, okay. I am lighter than a feather, yet no man can hold me for very long. What am I?"

She thought for a moment "Is it water?" she asked, hopefully.

"Close, it's Breath. No person can hold their breath for very long" he smirked.

"Very clever, I do enjoy riddles. Another perhaps?"

"Um okay. What has neither flesh, bone, nor nail yet has 4 fingers and a thumb?" he asked, clearly enjoying this.

"Ew that's gross how you said that" she pulled a face with her tounge sticking out "Um…. A…. ooh a glove!" she said happily.

"Yes" he said, clapping his hands and smiling. Just at that moment Nimmie threw up out of her window onto the dumpsters, she threw up blood. Edwards smile disappeared. "Nimmie, what's wrong? Why are you so sick?" he stammered.

"I'm glad you came and I'm glad you told my some fun riddles but Eddie please you have to leave now" she said, her green eyes pleading.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong. I got suspended today and this might be my last day on earth because you can bet your hat that my dad is going to beat me to death, so please tell me" he begged.

She sighed, "I'm dying Eddie and I don't want you to see it. I'm glad we became friends again before I went but please go"

Edward's eyes sadden and his face turned grim "Dying? How? I can get you help, I promise! I have money I'll pay for whatever you need. Just please don't die" he said, frantically tears welding in his eyes.

"Eddie, sh. It's okay, I want to die" tears had starting falling down her face and mixing with the rain as they fell out of her window. "I just can't handle my life anymore, us falling out because of me broke me Eddie you was keeping me hanging on the edge of life but then you let go, all because of me cutting myself and you seeing. I'm truly sorry Eddie. You'll live on and you'll be great. Don't listen to bullies, you show them. You show the world how smart and amazing you are, the boy who solved the unbeatable cube, the boy who can solve any riddle. Hey Eddie, they should call you The Riddler" she laughed, before gazing at Eddie who was now sat on the floor getting lashed at by the rain, but he was listening to every word she said.

"Can I ask one question?" he said, trying his best not to let his voice break.

"No, Eddie. No more. Not to me. You can ask as many questions as you like to anybody, but not me, not now. I love you Eddie, please go"

Edward shakily stood up and looked into the eyes of his one true friend, he had broken, he had let fall. He looked away, his tears disguised by the heavy rain. He walked away "I love you too, Nimmie. Goodbye." He said and he meant it. He turned into the empty street just as he heard "Goodbye and I know" He began walking towards his house; he didn't care if his dad beat him to death not anymore. _"What was the point of life now? Another riddle"_ he thought. He didn't care anymore, no he was the boy who could solve any riddle and he was going to solve everyone. "I promise, Nimmie" he whispered but nobody was around to hear him.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: It's finally up! Sorry for the offensive lanngaune agianst gays. Love ya guys ~ Quinnzey**

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Chapter 5 – Revenge

Edward slipped into the house, unnoticed by his drunken to hell father deep in a drunken sleep on the couch. "Lazy bastard" he muttered. He walked past him confidently, he stirred a bit on the couch, and Edward jumped and shrunk against the wall. He breathed a sigh of relief as the sleeping man let out a huge snore. Edward hopped a bit as he made his way to his bedroom. "Clarissa" his father muttered in his sleep. Curiosity Edward made his way back to his father's sleeping form. "Clarissa, don't go" he muttered again. Edward looked at him, he was dreaming about the woman Edward got a swift smack to the head for when he mentioned her name and here, the man who loathed her, dreamed freely about her. Oh no, Edward couldn't allow that, not one bit. After everything that happened today, Edward wanted to have some fun.

A few moments, some tape, rope and a kitchen knife later, his father started to wake up. "Edward!" he shouted. No reply. "Is that little faggot back yet?" he muttered to himself. He went to scratch his head but in disbelief realised he couldn't, he peered down at his wrist. His thick rope that he had to use for work was tightly tied around his wrist against the springs in the sofa. Anger rushed through him, "_who dared to cross me?"_ he thought. He began struggling but the thick ropes just cut into his wrists, the more he struggled the tighter the ropes became and before long, blood had seeped onto the rope. He had broken into a sweat and didn't work out that struggling wasn't the best idea but he kept at it, with all his might.

The door opened and Edward came in. His father looked up "Edward! I think someone's in the house! He tied me up and I think he's in my bedroom stealing stuff!" Edward calmly pulled out a dining chair and sat opposite his dad. "Edward! You fucking little idiot! What are you doing! There's a thief!" he yelled, spit flying everywhere. Edward looked at his feet, looking as if he was deep in thought. "Edward! Do you want to get me killed! You pathetic idiot!"

Edward looked up at his father, a deep sadness in his eyes "A reason why a man would murder enough, a reason why a man would do anything for?" he said softly, smirking a little.

"What are you talking about, you twit!" his father yelled.

"Answer the riddle" he said.

"I'm not answering anything! Untie me so we can call the police before the robber kills us!" he shouted.

"I said answer the fucking riddle!" Edward yelled, suddenly holding the fount of his father's shirt. His father looked at him, confused and a little scared, Edward was in control now and that position had belonged to his father for a very very long time.

"Umm… ok. Can you r-repeat it?" he asked.

"Really?" he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"No!" he father shouted and head butted Edward. He stumbled back but remained clam.

"How rude but then again you've always lacked simple manners" he said. "Well how does it feel being the one with no power, being tied down, as your genius son takes control? How does it feel dad?"

"What?! You did this to me! You little moron!" he screamed.

"Aha. The baboon finally catches on!" Edward said, standing on the chair. His father just stared at him, shocked his loser son had managed to do anything to him. Edward sat down, crossed his legs and leant forward. "So dad, tell me about mummy?" he said, smiling evilly.

"Don't you dare mention her in this house!" he yelled.

"Well why not, you decided to dream about her" he snickered.

"What! How did- How dare you accuse me of such a thing!"

"Oh, come off it dad. Bet you have wet dreams about her every night. I just want to know one thing and answer honestly and just in case you don't" he pulled out a kitchen knife and pointed it at him. "Well, you probably could guess. Well here's the question. Did mummy leave because of you or because of me?" The twinkle in his eyes couldn't have been brighter.

His father shifted uncomfortably and avoided looking at Edwards eyes, "_why that question_" He thought. "Tick tock" Edward almost sang. He didn't have to answer to his son. No, he may have been tied down but, he didn't have to answer. Sure, Ed had a knife but he didn't have the balls to use it. He smiled to himself; he had the answer to this problem.

"Not going to answer, so that's your game. Well let me tell you this, a man or a teen such as me, hasn't got anything to loose. So they're not afraid to use a knife as revenge. Revenge. You know, that was the answer to my riddle."

"You don't have the guts" he snarled. Edward smiled and walked slowly towards his now terrified father, he spun the knife between his fingers.

"Oh Dad" he chuckled while shaking his head. He stopped in front of him. "You have one more chance to answer" His father drew back as far as he could, which wasn't very far, and looked into Edwards eyes, hoping to see the torn, beaten boy but all he could see was a raging fury and a deep sadness. "Answer me!" Edward yelled, making his father jump.

"She… left…b… I don't have to answer to you! You're just a little idiot!"

"Wrong answer!" he slashed the knife across his father's face, leaving a bloody mark from his eye to his mouth. His father yelled out and went to grab his face, forgetting the thick ropes.

"17 years of pain and abuse!" Edward screamed while lashing at his father's face with the knife. "17 years, I've been putting up with your crap! Do you have any idea what that does to someone!" Hot angry tears had started flowing down his face as he cut at his father's face.

"Ed stop! Just stop! I'm sorry" his father whimpered.

"You're sorry? No, you don't get to be sorry. It's way too late now dad. The moment you started abusing me was the moment you wrote your own death." The tears had subsided; Edward wiped his face but smeared his father's blood across his face. "I hate you"

"I don't blame you; I've been a terrible dad"

"You've been more than that! You've been a vile, horrible man and you're not my father!" he screamed then grew quite "You wrote your own death" he whispered. Then he attacked, his father's screams floated out into the night, but living in The Narrows, nobody acknowledged them.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Two uploads in one day, aren't we lucky :) Welcomes ~ Quinnzey**

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Chapter 6 – Everything falls into place

"Taunt, what's the scene like?" Lieutenant Macaddino asked.

"A murder, but what do you expect it's The Narrows" Officer Taunt said.

"Okay, so how messy is it?" she asked.

"Pretty messy"

"Psycho messy?"

"Yep"

"This city is full of whack jobs" she said, shaking her head.

"So Lieutenant, do you want to get a coffee after your shift?"

"Can we keep it professional please, Taunt?"

"Yes mam"

The Lieutenant turned and walked up the steps to the shady apartment. Officer Taunt watched her enter the apartment; if she wasn't so wrapped up in her work he would have her. Lieutenant Maccaddino looked at the scene; a balding, overweight man was dead on the sofa. His face had been cut to bits and there were deep gashes on his wrists. A knife lay next to him on the sofa and the T.V was still on. She shook her head, "Poor bastard" she muttered. She moved closer and the smell of death entered her nose. "Oakly, any suspects?" she shouted.

"No Mam. Jamie thinks it's a suicide"

"Did I ask for Jamie's opinion?"

"No mam"

"Well then, please only answer the questions I ask. Am I clear?"

"Yes mam, it won't happen again mam."

"Good."

She bent down in front of the man, she looked closely at his wrists, no not a suicide these were cuts from ropes. Lieutenant Maccaddino wiped her face, no suspects, now she had nothing.

"Excuse me mam, but Mr Nashton had a son called Edward" one of the officer said.

"Thank you, Gaunt" she said "Contact him and bring him into the station as soon as possible"

"Yes mam"

Edward was sat on a neighbouring rooftop, watching the police investigate the scene. He still was covered in blood, his hands and his clothes plus the smear across his face. He looked fresh out of a horror film. He felt horrible, unclean, he didn't feel guilty, and his dad had deserved everything that he got. He looked down at his bloody clothes and remembered the dry cleaners he had to go to once.

Edward watched lines of people go in and out of the dry cleaners, nobody noticed him, nothing new there. He saw a smart man holding a green suit enter the cleaners. Edward looked down at his favourite green tie and smiled; he walked in after the man, but kept out of sight. He glanced at the time slot the man would be back to collect it at. Edward noted it then left before the man and waited.

At 4:50 Edward went back into the dry-cleaners. "Hello, I'm here to pick up my friends green suit at the 5 o'clock slot. Is that ok?" he asked.

"Yes, of course. Name please?"

"Mr Little"

"Yes, here it is" She handed the freshly cleaned suit, smiling. "Have a nice day"

"Thank you" he took the suit and left, 10 minutes later the man came back to collect his suit, t0 find to his dismay that someone called Mr Little had already collected it.

Edward emerged from the public restrooms, dressed in a green suit with matching green question mark tie. He hated using anything public, except the library. He pulled on black gloves; he did not want to touch anything that anyone else had touched. He had left his bloody clothes folded neatly on top of one of the toilet seats. He laughed to himself; he wondered what the police would think of it. He made his way downtown, smirking. He watched the people getting on with their lives, having no idea what was going on inside Edward.

A gun shot echoed through the building. Everybody screamed and dropped to the floor. 2 armed men walked in, followed by a man in a suit. "Don't mind us, just taking some money" he said. He walked in majestically and went up to one of the windows. "Open the vault"

"I'm not opening anything for criminal scum like you"

"Shame" he said and plucked his hat off "Say, Sir I really like this hat. Mind if I keep it?"

"My mother gave me that"

"Ask her to buy you a new one"

"She's dead"

"Shame" he positioned the green bowler hat on his head "It's mine now. Are you going to open the vault?"

The man shook his head. "You need some motivation?" he pulled out a pistol from an inside pocket "Here's your damn motivation! Now open the fucking vault!"

The man nodded and put up his hands. He led him to a large metal vault and typed in the pin. Edward smiled and mentioned the other guys into the vault. "Want to hear a riddle while we wait?" he asked to the terrified man.

"What?"

"Too bad, I'm going to tell you one anyway. You better answer it" he tapped the gun and smiled, the man gulped and nodded slowly.

"A man was going to bleach his socks because they had gotten muddy the day before. As he was pouring the bleach into the washing machine, he spilled some on the floor. He got some cleaning fluid and mopped it up with a rag. Minutes later he was dead. What killed him?" he smirked

"Oh ummm… Just a moment" Edward could see the gears in the little man's head turning.

"Tick tock mister" he said.

"Boss that's all of it, were going now"

"One moment" he said, holding a finger to him. "Come on, give me the answer damn it!"

The man jumped, "I'm not sure"

Edward put his hand to his face "The answer is –"

"Boss, we gotta go before the police come"

Edward turned around "Don't ever interrupt me, when I'm talking" he snarled and shot the man. He turned back around to the trembling man "Sorry about that, the answer is when you mix bleach and ammonia, found in most cleaning products, it creates a deadly gas that can kill. Keep that in mind" he chuckled then walked away with his one worker.

"Who are you?" the man stammered.

"Just call me The Riddler. Be sure to boggle your mind! Hahaha" he left laughing.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – People from the past

Edward had power, popularity even people being afraid of him. He was lapping up all the attention and his ego was growing bigger and bigger. By the time he was 18, he had robbed 5 banks and still nobody had any idea who he was. They all knew him as The Riddler. He was all over the news and the police hadn't a slightest, who the man was behind the mask.

When the police knocked on his door, Edward was extremely shocked and worried. He opened the door to find an Italian women and an American man standing on his doorstep.

"Mr Nashton?" she asked.

It took Edward a while to remember that was his last name. "Yes, that's me. What seems to be the problem officer?"

"I'm Lieutenant Macaddino and this is Officer Taunt. Were here to inform you that your father has passed on" she said, softly.

Edward looked shocked, when had he killed his father? It was a year ago. The Lieutenant saw his confused expression and filled in the silence. "We understand this is a shock for you. He was murdered a year ago. We would have told you sooner, but Mr Nashton you're a very hard man to find. If you would please, we'd like you to come down to the station. There are a few things you'll have to collect"

Edward pondered on this for a moment. "Yes, very well" he said, he had to go otherwise it would look to suspicious. "Did you find the murder?" he asked, with a fake try to control tears that wouldn't come out of compassion. The Lieutenant and officer looked at each other, before she spoke.

"No, were still looking. Were terribly sorry for your loss"

Edward looked at his feet "Can I have a minute to compose myself?"

"Yes, yes of course take all the time you need. We'll meet you at the car" Edward nodded and closed the door, as the police left for the car. Edward looked at himself in the mirror; he had got this acting down. He was a great actor, the best he'd ever seen. Before departing he thought of the saddest thing he knew and then wiped away the tears, but his eyes had gone red. "Perfect" he smiled to himself.

At the station, many officers were murmuring between themselves. At last, one of the officers handed him his father's jacket, his mother's locket he had kept secretly and a letter, unopened. Edward had to wait and fill out forms and such other boring things. Although, Edward was a patient man he was getting rather bored. After an hour process, Edward was biting on his tongue, not to spill a riddle causing his mouth to fill with blood. He shook hands with the officer and rushed outside to spit in the bin. He grabbed his father's jacket and threw that in there as well. "Why would I want any of his crap" he muttered. He wiped his mouth and turned to leave but a glint caught his eye.

Curiosty got the best of him and he approached the bin, behind the bin was a beautiful shinning cane. Most likely fake gold but magnificent. He pulled it out and leant on it, this was wonderful. An magnificent cane for a magnificent man. Chuckling he span it and then walked home, he had some DIY to do.

Back at his apartment, he had fixed a golden question mark on top of his cane. He had strutted about the apartment in his 'Riddler gear' practising spinning the cane and pointed it about. The question mark wasn't the only addition to the cane though, when you pulled the question mark up it becomes a sword with a nifty question mark handle, perfection.

It was late and Edward had sat down with his tea and was about to solve the crossword in the newspaper when a second knock that day, come to his door. Sighing, he peered out of his window and saw Nimmie's father. '_Why is everyone coming back from my past'_ he thought. He watched the fat man for a few moments longer when he noticed a pink envelope. With great speed, Edward flung open the door and stared at the man. "This is for you" he said gruffly "from Nymphadora" he held out the envelope. Edward looked down at it and took it very carefully, "Thanks, what's your name?" he asked.

"David Lovingbrough, I was never here" he grunted and walked away, Edward slowly closed the door and stared down at the pink envelope in his hand.

He sat down in his comfy armchair, with trembling hands he opened the letter addressed 'Give this to the boy you wouldn't let in. (Edward Nashton)' He smiled a little, and then he began reading in her lovely handwriting.

'Dear Eddie,

If you're reading this then I've done it, the one thing that should have happened a while ago. You might hate me when you find out the truth, like you hated me when you saw the scars. I'm sorry, but that was before I met you, before the beacon of light that opened up a way out. (That's you by the way) I hope my stupid dad gives you this and if he's reading this now, it's your fault, I'm dead. I hope you burn in hell' Edward mentally added Mr David Lovingbrough to his revenge list and carried on reading, 'Eddie, I love you. I mean it; you were my everything in my world of darkness. I want you to carry on without me, prove you're something for both of us. Show the world. You show the world that Edward Nashton is a freaking genius, a wonderful genius. My genius. I will have to hurry and finish this because the poison is kicking in and I can feel my insides burning up. I have so much more to write but I'm out of time. Just promise me you make the world pay for our suffering. I love you Riddler and remember I am at peace now, a sleeping angle where my dad can't hurt me anymore.

Love Nimmie xx'

Edward dropped the letter onto the table, along with his tears that fell, hitting the letter and everything beneath him. He sank back into his chair and drew his knees in close. He never felt more alone in the world at that moment. He just knew one thing, Edward Nashton had to die.

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**A/N: Yes, Nimmie commited suicide but that is not the answer to peoples problems. So if you feel like this, please don't Nimmie is a fictional character and felt no pain. Talk to someone, if you feel this way. Thank you ~ Quinnzey**


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